Reclaiming $700,000+ Inheritance: Executor Misconduct Resolved by Fiffik Law Group

Losing a loved one is never easy, and when coupled with a fraught estate distribution process, the situation can become even more challenging. When Pennsylvania residents prepare their wills, they designate an individual to serve as the executor to their estate. Executors have important duties – including distributing the decedent’s assets to the heirs and updating them on the status of the estate – and they are required to act in the best interests of the heirs. Unfortunately, executors do not always manage the estate with the utmost integrity and ability. In a recent case involving executor misconduct, Fiffik Law Group intervened to rectify the unjust distribution of an estate and successfully secured our client’s rightful inheritance.

In this case, a father of two passed away, leaving behind an inheritance that included several properties in the Pittsburgh area as well as a lake house valued at over $500,000. He intended those properties to be divided between his children. The daughter was appointed as the executor of her father’s estate, so she had important legal duties and deadlines to meet regarding the estate distribution. Sadly, she provided virtually no information to her brother, our client, and refused to respond to his repeated requests for information. Not only did she distribute her father’s assets to herself and not her brother, but she also intentionally let the properties left to her brother accumulate debts and fall into disrepair while keeping up with the ones left to her.

This unjust situation had been going on for years – the father passed away in 2017 and it was now 2022. Most probate proceedings are done in about a year. Realizing this had gone on for far too long, our client made the decision to retain Fiffik Law Group. We conducted an investigation and discovered that his sister had conveyed the father’s lake house to herself despite the fact that the father’s will specifically left it to her brother.  We filed a lawsuit to have her removed as executor and distribute our client’s inheritance to him, including the lake house. As a result of our actions, our client, as the rightful owner, received two of his father’s Pittsburgh-area properties valued at nearly $200,000 plus the $500,000 lake house.  

Don’t ignore the warning signs of executor misconduct; retain a probate litigation attorney immediately. Matters like these are usually fraught with intense emotions, often pitting family members against each other during times of grief. When so much is at stake, it’s critical to find an experienced probate attorney near you that you can trust to act in your best interest while handling your case with sensitivity and compassion. Contact Fiffik Law Group today or call 412-391-1014 for a free initial consultation on your matter.